Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The present invention relates to a portable therapeutic pillow, more particularly it relates to an air filled therapeutic pillow that is adapted for easy transport and provides variable support to the head, neck and upper back of the user in a horizontal resting position whether the user is sleeping on her back or her side.
Many people suffer from chronic neck pain or stiffness and a tense upper back. This is often the result of sleeping with pillows that provide insufficient support for the neck and upper back. Improper alignment of the spine often occurs when the head and neck are inadequately supported. The muscles of the neck try to compensate for the misalignment resulting a sore or stiff neck.
The natural spinal curves in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions are designed to support the weight of the body and to provide flexibility. Spinal bone will remodel itself in response to applied mechanical stresses and strains, according to Wolff""s law of osseous physiology. In response to abnormal mechanical forces, living bone will constantly change its growth and orientation. An anterior head carriage posture results from decreased cervical lordosis, which in turn leads to abnormal forward weight bearing on the anterior vertebral bodies and discs. This abnormal forward weight bearing will create disc degeneration and spondylopathy.
In addition, applied force over time will cause a viscous change in the surrounding muscles, ligaments and tendons. Unless a corrective force is applied, again over time, all viscous change is permanent.
Many therapeutic sleep pillows have been developed over the years to provide proper support of the head and neck. Therapeutic sleep pillows allow the user to directly effect the biophysiologic property of viscosity. These pillows allow a force to be applied to the cervical spine in a corrective direction over an extended period of time. These pillows are usually made of open or closed celled foam. There is no way to vary the size, softness or the firmness of these pillows to suit the individual user. The typical user does not have a standard size head, neck or shoulder width. The user with wide shoulders, or a long neck or pressure sensitive ears must cope with a one-size fits all pillow. The user often must resort to modifying the pillow by raising it upon a towel or another pillow or adapting the upper surface to suit their particularly peculiar shaped head or neck size, or firmness needs.
While some users are able to achieve relief at home, they suffer when sleeping away from home. Although conventional pillows can be shaped to provide comfortable support in the position in which the user falls asleep, these pillows do not retain that shape and support throughout the entire sleeping period. The open celled or closed celled, foam therapeutic sleep pillows are too bulky and heavy to be practically taken by travelers.
What is needed is a pillow that allows the user to adjust the height or firmness of the pillow to suit their tastes or needs. What is also needed is a pillow that can be easily broken down and transported to provide the traveler with comfortable sleep away from home.
The invention resides in a fluid filled head support. The fluid filled head support includes a center section. The center section has a proximal face, a distal face, a front face, a back face, a first face and a second face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots to form at least one cell. Each cell is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. Each cell has at least one opening therein adapted to selectively open and close for receiving and expelling air. The proximal face has a forward attachment area.
A first neck-support section is provided. The neck-support section has a cylindrical proximal face, a flat distal face, a first end face and a second end face, each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots to form at least one cell. Each cell is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. Each cell has at least one opening therein adapted to selectively open and close for receiving and expelling air. The distal face of the first neck-support section is attached to the forward attachment area of the proximal face of the center section.
An upper back-support section is provided. The upper back-support section has a proximal face, a distal face, a back face, a first face and a second face. The distal face has a front edge. The upper back-support section has a wedge shape. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots to form at least one cell. Each cell is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. Each cell has at least one opening therein adapted to selectively open and close for receiving and expelling air. The back face of the upper back-support section is attached to the front face of the center section. The proximal face slopes up from the front edge of the distal face to form a smooth transition up to the proximal face of the center section.
The center section, first neck-support section and upper back-support section are disposed, sized and shaped to receive and support the rear of a user""s head in such a way that the user""s neck muscles are in a relaxed state and the spine is in proper orthopedic alignment when the user is laying horizontally on the user""s back.
A first side section is provided. The first side section has a proximal face, a distal face, a front face, a back face, a first face and a second face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots to form at least one cell. Each cell is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. Each cell has at least one opening therein adapted to selectively open and close for receiving and expelling air. The proximal face has a forward attachment area. The second face of the first side section is attached to the first face of the center section.
A second neck-support section is provided. The second neck-support section has a cylindrical proximal face, a flat distal face, a first end face and a second end face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots to form at least one cell. Each cell is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. Each cell has at least one opening therein adapted to selectively open and close for receiving and expelling air. The distal face of the second neck-support section is attached to the forward attachment area of the proximal face of the first side section.
The first side section and the second neck-support section are disposed, sized and shaped to receive and support the side of a user""s head in such a way that the user""s neck muscles are in a relaxed state and the spine is in proper orthopedic alignment when the user is laying horizontally on the user""s side.
A first support section is provided. The first support section has a proximal face, a distal face, a front face, a back face, a first face and a second face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots to form at least one cell. Each cell has at least one opening therein adapted to selectively open and close for receiving and expelling air. Each cell is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. The proximal face of the first support section is attached to the distal face of the center section, the distal face of the upper back-support section and the distal face of the first side section.
In a variant of this invention, a second side section provided. The second side section a proximal face, distal face, a front face, back face, a first face and a second face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots to form at least one cell. Each cell is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. Each cell has at least one opening therein adapted to selectively open and close for receiving and expelling air. The proximal face has a forward attachment area. The first face of the second side section is attached to the second face of the center section.
A third neck-support section is provided. The third neck-support section has a cylindrical proximal face, a flat distal face, a first end face and a second end face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots to form at least one cell. Each cell is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. Each cell has at least one opening therein adapted to selectively open and close for receiving and expelling air. The distal face of the third neck-support section is attached to the forward attachment area of the proximal face of the second side section.
The second side section and third neck-support section are disposed, sized and shaped to receive and support the side of a user""s head in such a way that the user""s neck muscles are in a relaxed state and the spine is in proper orthopedic alignment when the user is laying horizontally on the user""s side.
In yet another variant of this invention, a second support section is provided. The second support section has a proximal face, a distal face, a front face, a back face, a first face and a second face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots to form at least one cell. Each cell has at least one opening therein adapted to selectively open and close for receiving and expelling air. Each cell is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. The proximal face of the second support section is attached to the distal face of the first support section.
In still another variant of this invention, the proximal face of the center section, the proximal face of the upper back-support section, the proximal face of the first side section, the proximal face of the second side section, the proximal face of the first neck support, the proximal face of the second neck support and the proximal face of the third neck support are covered by a flocked material. The flocked material is rayon.
In again another variant of this invention, the proximal face of the center section, the proximal face of the upper back-support section, the proximal face of the first side section, the proximal face of the second side section, the proximal face of the first neck support, the proximal face of the second neck support and the proximal face of the third neck support has a tucked configuration.
In a variation of this invention, the proximal face of the center section, the proximal face of the upper back-support section, the proximal face of the first side section, the proximal face of the second side section, the proximal face of the first neck support, the proximal face of the second neck support and the proximal face of the third neck support has a ribbed configuration.
The invention also resides in another fluid filled head support. The other fluid filled head support includes a center section. The center section has a proximal face, a distal face, a front face, a back face, a first face and a second face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots. Each face is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. The proximal face has a forward attachment area.
A first neck-support section is provided The neck-support section has a cylindrical proximal face, a flat distal face, a first end face and a second end face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots. Each face is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. The distal face of the first neck-support section is attached to the forward attachment area of the proximal face of the center section.
An upper back-support section is provided. The upper back-support section has a proximal face, a distal face, a back face, a first face and a second face. The distal face has a front edge. The upper back-support section has a wedge shape. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots. Each face is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. The back face of the upper back-support section is attached to the front face of the center section. The proximal face slopes up from the front edge of the bottom face to form a smooth transition up to the proximal face of the center section.
The center section, the first neck-support section and upper back-support section are disposed, sized and shaped to receive and support the rear of a user""s head in such a way that the user""s neck muscles are in a relaxed state and the spine is in proper orthopedic alignment when the user is laying horizontally on the user""s back.
A first side section is provided. The first side section has a proximal face, a distal face, a front face, a back face, a first face and a second face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots. Each face is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. The proximal face has a forward attachment area. The second face of the first side section is attached to the first face of the center section.
A second neck-support section is provided. The second neck-support section has a cylindrical proximal face, a flat distal face, a first end face and a second end face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots. Each face is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. The distal face of the second neck-support section is attached to the forward attachment area of the proximal face of the first side section.
The first side section and the second neck-support section are disposed, sized and shaped to receive and support the side of a user""s head in such a way that the user""s neck muscles are in a relaxed state and the spine is in proper orthopedic alignment when the user is laying horizontally on the user""s side.
The center section, the upper back-support section, the first side section, the first neck-support section and the second neck-support section are joined to each adjacent section in such a way as to form at least one cell. Each cell has at least one opening therein adapted to selectively open and close for receiving and expelling air.
A first support section is provided. The first support section has a proximal face, a distal face, a front face, a back face, a first face and a second face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots to form at least one cell. Each cell has at least one opening therein adapted to selectively open and close for receiving and expelling air. Each cell is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. The proximal face of the first support section is attached to the distal face of the center section, to the distal face of the upper back-support section and to the distal face of the first side section.
In a variant of this invention, a second side section is provided. The second side section has a proximal face, a distal face, a front face, a back face, a first face and a second face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots. Each face is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. The proximal face has a forward attachment area. The first face of the second side section is attached to the second face of the center section.
A third neck-support section is provided The third neck-support section has a cylindrical proximal face, a flat distal face, a first end face and a second end face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots. Each face is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. The distal face of the third neck-support section is attached to the forward attachment area of the proximal face of the second side section.
The second side section and the third neck-support section are disposed, sized and shaped to receive and support the side of a user""s head in such a way that the user""s neck muscles are in a relaxed state and the spine is in proper orthopedic alignment when the user is laying horizontally on the user""s side.
The center section, the upper back-support section, the first side section, the second side section, the first neck-support section, the second neck-support section and the third neck-support section are joined to each adjacent section in such a way as to form at least one cell. Each cell has at least one opening therein adapted to selectively open and close for receiving and expelling air.
In yet another variant of this invention, a second support section is provided. The second support section has a proximal face, a distal face, a front face, a back face, a first face and a second face. Each face has at least one edge. Each edge is joined to an adjacent edge at a multiplicity of joining spots to form at least one cell. Each cell has at least one opening therein adapted to selectively open and close for receiving and expelling air. Each cell is fabricated from a flexible, air impervious material. The proximal face of the second support section is attached to the distal face of the first support section.
In still another variant of this invention, the proximal face of the center section, the proximal face of the upper back-support section, the proximal face of the first side section, the proximal face of the second side section, the proximal face of the first neck support, the proximal face of the second neck support and the proximal face of the third neck support are covered by a flocked material. The flocked material is rayon.
In again another variant of this invention, the proximal face of the center section, the proximal face of the upper back-support section, the proximal face of the first side section, the proximal face of the second side section, the proximal face of the first neck support, the proximal face of the second neck support and the proximal face of the third neck support have a tucked configuration.
In a variation of this invention, the proximal face of the center section, the proximal face of the upper back-support section, the proximal face of the first side section, the proximal face of the second side section, the proximal face of the first neck support, the proximal face of the second neck support and the proximal face of the third neck support have a ribbed configuration.
The foregoing has outlined the more pertinent and important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood so the present contributions to the art may be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the present invention will be described hereinafter, which form the subject of the claims. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the disclosed specific embodiment may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures and methods for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It also should be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions and methods do not depart from the spirit and scope of the inventions as set forth in the appended claims.